Tech students innovate safety apps for women

AHMEDABAD: At a time when incidents such as Nirbhaya gang rape is prompting global IT giants like Microsoft to come out with apps aiming to protect women, students from technology institutes in India are also creating unique, futuristic apps.

These ideas were awarded at the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award organized by SRISTI and Honey Bee Network on March 29 in Ahmedabad.

A few such apps are also being discussed with the police and will be implemented after seeking feedback on social networking sites.

For instance, three students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi have developed an android application for women's safety. Akhil Aggarwal, Shubham Jindal, Siddharth Garg and Rajan Nagpal have created an android application which helps a person in sending distress message to chosen contacts.

The app uses GPS to identify exact location, calculates distance from the nearest landmark and sends message in simple English. For example 'I am 100 meters towards north from Law Garden'. The project has been discussed with the Delhi Police and app distribution drives have been undertaken. The app will be upgraded after ascertaining user feedback.

Similarly, Mithila Harish from Vellore Institute of Technology has developed a voice activated safety mobile app to provide enhanced safety and security to people, particularly to women.